The Open Road Guild

[ScottF]

This hat is a long oval, so the color scheme is reversed, as are mid-ovals and round ovals.

Here's almost the same hat - also a long oval - but with the 'last drop' liner. Note the size tag font is different. Somewhere I believe jtl or CV posted the significance of that. Also interesting difference that 'LONG OVAL' is embossed under the sweat logo on mine.

 

[gtdean48]

And you have Stars near the beaver on the crest as well, Scott. Mine has same size tag & liner but no Long Oval on the sweat.

 

[Dreispitz]

Liner question?

I have compared the liner of my xxx OR and my xxx Imperial bantam. Both have synthetic liners.

My Borsalini and Cavanagh hats - for example - have real silk liners. How about clear beaver or Stetson 100 hats? Do they also come with synthetic liners?

 

[ScottF]

...

My Borsalini and Cavanagh hats - for example - have real silk liners.

Are you sure about that? I've had several Borsalinos that appeared to have silk liners, but only two were actually silk, and one was a '20s (or older) fu Lazarro. The only other hats I've had with silk liners were two from the '20s.

 

[Sam Craig]

The years made a difference

I own a couple of older Open Roads, a Dobbs copy, and a couple of newer Stetsons — the newer are from 1970, on.

It's clear that there's been a big change in quality in the Stetsons over the years, though I guess that would also be impacted with how expensive you want to go, even with a brand new OR.

The older ones also seemed to have taller crowns, which made it much easier to reshape them into a nice fedora look.

Do you just have to leave Stetson behind to find that height today?

Just wondering.

 

[Samuel]

I want to join

Hi there people.

I want to join this guild but I don't have one yet. though I appreciate all of yours!:

 

[Dreispitz]

Are you sure about that? I've had several Borsalinos that appeared to have silk liners, but only two were actually silk, and one was a '20s (or older) fu Lazarro. The only other hats I've had with silk liners were two from the '20s.

You are right. The younger liners do not really come in silk. It is interesting that one can actually follow up the 20c development of synthetic fibers along hat liners.

 

[Duper]

I acquired this Open Road off e-bay a number of weeks back. It has a 2 1/4" brim and is open crown. Sweatband says it is a 3X Beaver Quality and it cames from James W. Bell Hatter and Furrier in Lancaster PA. It was very clean. Just a brushing and a little wipe down of the interior and sweatband and it was ready to go.

Is a 2 1/4" a common size for an Open Road?

 

[RBH]

I acquired this Open Road off e-bay a number of weeks back. It has a 2 1/4" brim and is open crown. Sweatband says it is a 3X Beaver Quality and it cames from James W. Bell Hatter and Furrier in Lancaster PA. It was very clean. Just a brushing and a little wipe down of the interior and sweatband and it was ready to go.

Is a 2 1/4" a common size for an Open Road?

Nice looking hat Duper.
I have never seen that short a brim in an Open Road before, mine were 2 3\4.

 

[Daoud]

O.R. repair/cleaning suggestions?

I hope nobody will chastise me for not using the "search" feature for this- I haven't had much luck with it. I have two Open Roads which are needing some TLC beyond that which I can provide: one is VERY dirty, but in amazingly good condition otherwise- the other is in very good shape as well, except for the sweatband, which met with a mishap and basically disintegrated. I was wondering if anyone has had any O.R.s rehabilitated professionally, and if so by whom, etc. Thanks in advance for any information on this.

 

[gtdean48]

I hope nobody will chastise me for not using the "search" feature for this- I haven't had much luck with it. I have two Open Roads which are needing some TLC beyond that which I can provide: one is VERY dirty, but in amazingly good condition otherwise- the other is in very good shape as well, except for the sweatband, which met with a mishap and basically disintegrated. I was wondering if anyone has had any O.R.s rehabilitated professionally, and if so by whom, etc. Thanks in advance for any information on this.

I've sent 2 to Optimo, 1 in really bad shape & 1 just needing a new sweatband. Both came back in excellent shape!

 

[gtdean48]

...
Is a 2 1/4" a common size for an Open Road?

VERY nice Duper, looks good on you. I had a hat from an old friend of the family that was too small for my noggin. It was a true stingy Open Road, less that 2 inch brim. Yours & that one are the thinnest brims I have seen.

 

[Sam Craig]

Great Stingy OR

Duper,

I've seen these short-brimmed Open Roads over the years, but I can honestly say I never saw one that really looked good on someone until now.

That hat looks like it was made for you.

I hate to admit it, but a few years back I rebuilt some for Indian Wars reenactors to use as campaign hats ... guys doing 1870s and 1880s Infantry impressions.

They worked great for that,

Yours looks just about right, though.

 

[Daoud]

I've sent 2 to Optimo, 1 in really bad shape & 1 just needing a new sweatband. Both came back in excellent shape!

That sounds good- do they have set prices or do you just send the hat in and hope you can afford what they do to it?

 

[Lefty]

You pay shipping + this.
They call you when they get your hat(s) to go over what you need.

 

[Daoud]

Outstanding! Thanks for the information. They're certainly not cheap, but of course I've heard of Optimo and I have no doubt they do excellent work.

 

[rlk]

1918 thin ribbon

 

[gtdean48]

Outstanding! Thanks for the information. They're certainly not cheap, but of course I've heard of Optimo and I have no doubt they do excellent work.

I've used Catalena Hatters & Shorty's for refurb work on OR/Stetson 25 in the past. Both do good work & a touch cheaper...

 

[JimWagner]

So, after seeing all the nice bashes posted here I tried to bash my OR into a C crown. Big mistake on my part. The crown on my OR was way too short for that type of bash. It ended up looking about half to 2/3 as high after bashing as pics I've seen here. So I put it back to its original shape successfully. Maybe I just over did it.

My question is, were ORs made over the years with different crown heights? Mine is from the early 80's.

 

[Daoud]

They definitely are a bit less expensive. I might go the Catalena route. Thanks!